By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
A brace from Antoine Griezmann was enough for tournament
hosts France to end the hopes of Republic of Ireland at EURO 2016.
The French recovered from a abysmal start to beat the Irish
2-1 in Lyon and advance into the quarter-finals and a date next Sunday in their
own national stadium with either England or Iceland.
Republic of Ireland had Shane Duffy sent off in the second
half and Darren Randolph to thank for a string of excellent stops to keep the
scoreline down. It was a brave performance from Martin O’Neill’s side but the
class told in the end.
Brady on
the mark
Seven years have passed since the night when Thierry Henry’s
blatant handball saw France progress to the 2010 World Cup finals in South
Africa at the Republic’s expense.
The word revenge had been mentioned firmly in the build-up
to this match and if that was the motivation, then the hosts got a rude
awakening inside the first two minutes.
Adil Rami slipped in the penalty box, before Paul Pogba
clumsily barged into the back of Shane Long. A penalty was given and there were
few complaints from French players on the field.
Norwich City’s Robbie Brady, who has had a fine individual
tournament, kept his composure amongst a chorus of boos to send Hugo Lloris the
wrong way and convert the penalty. Brady scored the winning goal against Italy
three nights earlier that took Ireland to this match and they had the early
momentum.
The fastest spot-kick scored in European Championship
history was followed by a period where Les Bleus clearly looked rattled. Lloris
did well to palm a Daryl Murphy shot away from danger after France failed to
deal with a simple throw-in.
They looked lost and confused on the field of play in
the first 45 minutes. Worse still, yellow cards in the first half for
Rami and N’Golo Kante means they are both suspended from the quarter-final
match which gives Didier Deschamps a selection headache.
Griezmann
comes good
The hairdryer treatment was probably dished out to the
players by their manager at the interval because the France that seemed to be
wilting under the pressure in the first half were a completely different team
in the second.
Deschamps decided to bring on an extra attacker in Kingsley
Coman who was brought on for the rattled Kante. Although Coman didn’t have a
direct influence in the comeback, he did give the opposition something else to
think about.
When a big moment has happened for the French so far at EURO
2016, they’ve often relied on Dimitri Payet. This time, it was one of their
golden stars in Griezmann who came good and answered the call when needed.
He turned the game completely with two goals in three second
half minutes. First, his header arched past Randolph’s sprawling dive after an
excellent delivery by Bacary Sagna.
 |
| Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud spearheaded a French fightback |
Moments later, he combined brilliantly with Olivier Giroud (both pictured).
The Arsenal forward attracted both Irish centre-backs to the ball, enabling the
space to open up for Griezmann to get his second in quick succession.
They nearly pulled it off again in the 65th
minute. Griezmann only denied his hat-trick by a cynical foul from Duffy, who
was feeling the pace of proceedings and quite rightly was given his marching
orders. All this came just seconds after O’Neill had made a positive change in
throwing on Jon Walters as an extra attacker.
Giroud’s replacement, Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the crossbar
and could have added to the score with two further chances he wasted. Randolph
was a busy goalkeeper in the second half and he did very well to ensure the
scoreline was as fair as it could be.
It was a valiant attempt from the Republic of Ireland and
they definitely gave France a real wake-up call in the first half but they head
for the departure lounge at these finals. France march on and on their second
half evidence, will be tough to deal with for England or Iceland, even with
those key suspensions looming for Kante and Rami.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Antoine Griezmann (France)
Possibly suffering a Champions League final hangover, it
hasn’t been the tournament Griezmann had been hoping for in terms of
consistency. He has come up with big moments though and this was another
example. His two goals were the driving force in spearheading France into the
quarter-finals. Griezmann is now virtually in the world-class bracket of
finisher in today’s game.
2nd: Olivier Giroud (France)
He was starved of service in the first half but Giroud
played his part in the crucial moments of the match – teeing up Griezmann for
his winner, and then playing him in again for Duffy’s red card. The French
crowd seem to be cheering him so his contribution now is being fully
valued.
3rd: Darren Randolph (Republic of Ireland)
He can’t surely stay as no.2 at West Ham United? This was
only Randolph’s 13th international cap but he played as if he’s had
130 caps at this level. Had no chance with either goal and made some critical
saves to keep his team in the game. Must get further game time now at club
level.
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